Belt conveyer.



w1. L. WENTZ:

BELT CONVEYER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 5.1917- Patened May 1&1, 1918.

ATTQ om' JERE L. WENTZ, OF PASSAIC, NEW JERSEY.

BELT CONVEYER.

To all 'whom itmay concern.' n Be it known that I, Jann L. WEN'rz, acitizen of the United States of America, residing at Passaic, county rofPassaic, State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in'Belt Conveyers, ofwhichV the following is aspecification.

' y invention relates to belt conveyers of or i rs which are'angularlydisposed so as to impart a. cup or trough shape to the beltfor the purpose of preventing lateral escape of material therefrom.`

The primary object of therinvention is to provide a belt conveyerstructure in which the idlers areexibly supported for the pur- )ose ofminimizing wear on the belt. These belt conveyers frequently transportheavy angular piecesof highly abrasive inaterial and 'if Athe idlers aresupported on ,rigid shafts as they commonly are in practice, each suchparticle of material resting on the belt where the latter is supportedby the idler tends to'abrade the belt, so that after a relatively shortperiod of' use' the face of the belt which is usually of rubber becomes,very substantially worn. By flexibly or yieldingly supporting theidlers I overcome the tendency of the material to abrade the belt andthus latter.

\shaft upon which the' paratus, the `latter purpose being accomplishedprimarily by the usc of a single idlers are mounted and of a singleintegral bracket for' supporting the shaft.

The invention is illustratively exemplified in the accompanying drawing,wherein- Figure 1 is an elevational vlew of the shaft supporting bracketand shaft,"the idlers being shown on the shaft and the structureappearing in horizontal position;

Fig. 2 is a similar view of the structure of Fig. 1 in operativeposition;

Fi 3 is a fragmentary view of a modied gorm of shaft for supporting theidlers;

Fig. 4 is a lan'view of a fragment of the supporting racket at anangular part thereof; and

Fig. 5 is an elevational view, and 6 a plan view, of astill furthermodied' form V(51s of supporting shaft for the idlers.

Specication ol Letters Patent. applicati@ and November 5, 1917. serialNo. 200,232..

the tiylfpe in which the belt passes over rollers greatly increase thelife of the Patented In carrying my invention into practice,v I

provide a single shaft 10 for a series of an desired number of idlers11. which may be hollow at intervals so as to enable it to be bentangular-ly at such points. `In the 1 the attenuated portions 12 through,and in Fig. 3 the attenuate tions which enable the shaft 10l the axis.

May 14, 19185` formof Fig.` are produced. by simply cutting or sawingthe shaft lpartly orto be nt consist of circumferential diameterreduc-`4 InFigs. 5 andt The sha t or solid is attenuated'k as at 12", atdialnet`4 preferably made of wood It is'also, provided wlth oppositelydisposed inset fric-y tion-reducing bearings 14 to engage the shaft 10.Separate end bearings 14 as shown 1n Fig. l are preferable,

desired. The shaft with idlers ,is supported bybracket 15 constitutingits superimposed a specially `formed one of the features ,of myinvention. This bracket may be made yo a piece or blank of Hat more orless sprmgy metal of sultable width, and is bent and the intermediatestreiigt ening loops 17. one of the latter being between each pair ofadjacent idlers 11. The opposite ends of the shaft l0 pass ythroughsuitable openings in the Aupwardly bent terminal arms 1G and areremovably retained in position b v means of the cottcr pins 18. Adjacentthe angular' bends the material of the bracket may be struck up, as at15", for strengthening purposes. i

As shown in Fig. 1 the entire structure so far described and comprisingthe bracket 15, shaft 10, and the idlers 11, may be assembled in horizontal position, which is of great convenience in manufacture.

\\fl"o support the idler structure upon any suitable surface such as aboard r plank 19, I preferably bra ets 20, each foot of which has aprojectlng Bange 21 by means of which the bracket as a'whole is boltedto the plank 19 by thtnbolts 22. i

Theinclined ami of the bracket 20 forms :he su port to which one of theend Bec- IODS by bolnil 22 The ntralsection, denoted although a single.through bearing sleeve may be provided ify enoted as of the bracket 15is secured sav employ angular supporting` f ture. To

1 o assem ble Ithrough thoidlers, and

' to the plank f c rawn from e inclined to any any desired v 23 iseiected.A A bracket' QO'isipi-ovided as a snpportat each end of theidler structure.

yThe `device may be readily assembled and disassembled even by anunskilled workman. the device the. supporting bracket 15 is first placedin position, the idlersbeing arranged between the loops ol the bracket,and thereafter the `shaft 10 is passed or what may be termed threadedthen the Cotter pins ends of the shaft 10. e supporting brackets Q0having been bolted 4to the plank 19, the idler structure ot' iig'. `l isattached to the brackets 20, with e center portion ofthe bracket-15bolted 19, and thc device ready for nse. After the onepiece shaft 10 hasbeen bentandplaced in positionl on the support ing bracket,snch shaftcannot revolve, which isadistinct advantage in ythis type isasseniblethe sti-aclare lnacket l5 is Stare .inserted at. the

,O the supporting released .from the brackets 2O is'lifted to theground, removed and the shaft the idlers and Yfrom' the andthe cotbracket l5.

When a device roi" this characteris in 'operation, that isi when thev 'iover the idlers l1 and revolving,` the latter, the loadwill be carriedalong by the belt as usual, and .if the load consists yot separatepieces yof material, as is frequently the case, the individualpieces :ist ley pass over the idlers will. have a tendency to vdepress the latter,fand suehidlers will yield to a slight extent, hns prevcntine' anyappreciable abrasion or Wear of the belt,

he brackets' tached, and means for ot' strnc` an Lintegral shaft andfrom the plank 1S), thereafter ter pins 1S,k l0 may then be withand inthis inani ner the life creased. ,Y

lVhat I claim as ner.7 and desire to secure by Letters Patent is l. Inbelt 'conveyers, the

of the belt is substantially in` combination with a. shaftvhaving bendstherein at intervals, of

idler-s on the shaft between the bends thereof, an integral bracket ofyielding material for supporting said shaft, asnpport to whichanintermediate part of said bracket is atsupportingA the opposite endsof the bracket in elevated position, w iereby portions of the. bracketbetween its middle part, and its ends a`re unsupported.

Q. ln bell' r-onveyers, the combination with a shaft ha ring' bendstherein at intervals, Vof idlers on the shaft between the bends thereof,an integral shaft-supporting bracket of yielding `material comprising`alternately plane and projecting portions, a support to which the`middle plane, portion of the bracket secured, and elevated supports towhich the. opposite plane end portions of the are secured, where ypfrtions of the bracket between its middle part' and. its ends are.nnsiipported. A j

3. In belt conveyors, the combination with attenuated at intervalsl andhav-ing bends at such attenuated dlers on the i ng bracket comprisingalternately plane and I portions,.a support to Whichthe `bracket isseandopstanding angular brackets on support and portions of the iirst namedy, secured whereb f portions of said' first named bracket between itsmiddle part'and its ends are unsnpported.` r

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signatnre'in'presence of twoWitnesses. ,Y

f JERE L. VVEN TZ. lVitnesses: v Grimace FRANCK, v i i ERTHA` MUELLER.

to which the opposite. plane bracket are,A

